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Shipp: Barr-Kahn race is shaping up to be an all-out dogfight

Posted: Wednesday, September 20, 2000

The contest may not have the glitz of the Hillary Clinton-Rick Lazio Senate battle in New York, but Georgia has its own version of a high-profile tilt with national ramifications. The escalating election war between 7th District Rep. Bob Barr, R-Smyrna, and Democrat challenger Roger Kahn of Cartersville is turning out to be among the most closely watched congressional campaigns in the nation.

Bill

Shipp

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Barr, who gained fame by initiating the impeachment move against President Clinton, is on nearly every national Democratic hit list.

Kahn, who entered the fray as a seemingly bewildered and mild-mannered business guy, has turned into a tiger, clawing Barr at every turn.

Conventional wisdom holds that Kahn, a multimillionaire liquor wholesaler from Buckhead with strong ties to the state Democratic Party, will have difficulty unseating Barr in perhaps the most conservative congressional district in the state.

But Kahn has adopted many of the aggressive, in-your-face tactics Barr himself used in 1994 to unseat Democratic Rep. Buddy Darden of Marietta.

When Barr shrugged off Kahn last week as ''a carpetbagger liquor dealer from Buckhead,'' Kahn's spokesman Mike Mikus shot back: ''Bob Barr was raised in Iowa, went to college at the University of California and law school in Washington, and he calls Roger a carpetbagger?'' Obviously, he doesn't understand what the definition is.''

Kahn grew up in Atlanta, attended local schools and graduated from the University of Georgia. He is active in UGA alumni affairs. He also claims to be a Bartow County cattle farmer. His Web site portrays him wearing a baseball cap and work clothes as he performs his farm chores.

If Kahn is trying to out-country Barr, he has a way to go. Wherever Barr appears, in person or even on the World Wide Web, Georgia's controversial state flag with the Confederate battle emblem is seen swirling nearby -- leaving the impression that ol' Bob is wrapped in the cloak of the Old South. Barr, practically a poster boy for the National Rifle Association, draws heavily on his association with conservative celebrities to solicit campaign funds. In the end, Kahn knows that no matter how much money he raises, Barr will have more. Conservative causes from across the nation will fill Barr's coffers to overflowing.

So Kahn has gone on television early with a preemptive strike -- a $150,000 weekly purchase of spots attacking Barr for opposing a nursing-home bill meant to protect Medicaid patients from eviction to make room for higher-paying private patients.

Barr has not yet counterattacked, though Georgia nursing home lobbyists complain bitterly that Kahn distorted the congressman's position.

Kahn also has lashed Barr for opposing federal legislation that outlawed so-called ''crush'' pornographic films in which small animals are killed and mutilated in a sexually explicit context. Barr said he opposed the law (which passed) because it usurped local powers to stop such activities.

And Kahn got on Barr's case when the lawmaker invited hard-rock music star Ted Nugent to come to Georgia in August to raise campaign funds. Kahn demanded Barr cancel the appearance because, Kahn said, many of Nugent's lyrics were laced with violent, misogynistic sentiments. Despite his music, Nugent is noted for his anti-drug and anti-alcohol crusades. Like Barr, he also is a leading light in the National Rifle Association.

Now, Barr appears ready to open up his own big guns against Kahn and the Democrats. He has purchased an estimated $500,000 in TV time for mid-October. His TV production company has been busy grinding out spots in nearly every corner of his northwest Georgia district.

Even if Barr wins the Nov. 7 election, this may be his last term as 7th District representative. The legislature, led by Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes, convenes in the summer of 2001 to reapportion legislative and congressional districts. Barr is likely to be given a district in which he has little possibility of gaining reelection.

If Kahn wins, he probably will be rewarded with a district he can call home for at least the next decade.

In any event, the 7th District competition may be among the more entertaining congressional elections this year. The demographics of the 7th District have changed dramatically. New residents have poured in.